Grounded
by xxXanimefreak101Xxx
Summary: Not realizing that he was sick, Gray foolishly took a request with the rest of his team. And now he is paying the price. Fortunately, he has Natsu to keep him grounded. NOT a slash! Just brotherly/friendly/family relationship. This is a Gray sick!fic. Most likely a three-shot


**A/N: Hey minna! Yeah big shocker but I AM still alive~ This is kind of like a peace treaty for everyone that is waiting for an update for Guardian Angel. Yeah I know its been 3 freaking months since I last updated, but I will NOT give up on the story. I love it to much and I hate myself for neglecting it for so long. But yeah off that topic, this is probably going to be a three-shot at the most. Just something to keep you entertained until I update GA. So please enjoy it! I must apologize in advance if any of the characters are OOC /bows/ Also, you can thank April Hawkeye for getting me in the mood to write again! I know I didn't get up within the week, but I honestly did not expect it to turn out this long. I was planning for, like, 2000 words. NOT 4000  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters in any way. If I did, a lot of pairings would be canon by now -_- But I do own the guild Grimmlock and its people.**

"Speaking"

_**'Thoughts'**_

**Grounded**

Sweat trickled down Gray's face and he sighed. They had been waiting in a village for three hours. Their mission was to capture a local bandit group that had been attacking the small village that he and his team are residing in.

The entire village had been evacuated, as they did tend to go overboard when fighting. This just left him and the others that consisted of Team "Natsu".

The ice-make wizard let loose a little cough and frowned. He hadn't felt that good this morning, but had laid the blame on not getting enough sleep last had stayed at the guild longer than intended because of the mass celebration that they were having, due to them winning the Grand Magic Games. It was their second week of celebrating and even though the Master had claimed that know one should be taking requests, food and rent did have a higher authority.

Thus, Natsu had picked out a relatively easy quest, just the simple task of taking out the local bandits, but it had offered $500,000 jls, which in turn, made Gray slightly uneasy. But he had went along with it, only for the money that he so desperately needed.

Now thinking back, he should have paid more attention to where the village was located. Being an ice mage, he became overheated fairly quickly when exposed to extreme heat for hours on end.

The teen felt more sweat slide down his neck and back and he grimaced. Deciding that he needed to do something to take his mind off the insufferable heat, he started looking for his teammates.

Gray looked across the village, his eyes searching for anyone of his friends, and saw Natsu leaning against a pole holding up a porch to a house. He was hidden from view to anyone coming from the front entrance, but if the bandits caught wind of an ambush and decided to come from the back, the fire dragonslayer would be spotted instantly.

He sighed at the choice of hiding but then figured that it **was** Natsu he was talking about. The ice mage looked around some more, and he spotted Lucy and Loke hiding out in a small house. The celestial wizard was looking fervently back and forth between the front and back entrance, and Gray smirked. She never stopped worrying.

Knowing that at least one of his teammates knew where to hide, he attempted to search for his scarlet-haired friend. After a couple of minutes, he gave up. He could probably search for another hour and still not find Erza.

Gray let loose another cough and groaned as he felt his legs start to cramp up. Crouching in a tree for hours would give anybody a nasty cramp. He shifted his position slightly and scowled as his muscles protested.

Deciding that if he wanted to be able to actually walk, let alone fight, he had better move his hiding spot. But his entire thought process changed when he looked up to the sky.

The sun was almost all the way down, with just a little bit still peeking out from the west. Stars were peeking out from the darkness that guarded them. The sounds of the night started to come in to play, and then silence once again. Gray frowned in confusion.

_**'Shouldn't they have been here by now?'**_

* * *

Meanwhile, about two-hundred meters away, a certain re-equip mage had noticed the same thing. According to the village mayor who had initially sent out the request, the bandits came about an hour before sunset, which was past.

A deep frown made its way across her face, and she summoned a sword, preparing for the upcoming battle. It was coming soon. She could feel it.

Erza risked a glance at to where her friends were scattered around the village premises. Her brown eyes first came upon Lucy. She nodded her approval at her choice of hiding and smiled slightly at the antics of Loke.

She looked for Natsu next and narrowed her eyes at where he was positioned. It wasn't as safe as she would have preferred, but she knew that he wasn't the same little boy that had come to the guild all those years ago. He was now a strong, handsome young man that had the biggest heart.

Erza loved him like a little brother and that fact would never change, not even if he betrayed them all. But she doubted that would ever happen. Not with Lucy around to keep him grounded. And if the celestial mage wasn't there, you can bet that she would beat some sense into him, along with Gray.

Speaking of her other 'little brother', the young woman glanced around until she found him crouching on a branch of a tree. As she looked closer, he seemed to sway a little, and looked paler than usual.

Taking in his appearance, a spark of worry came alive in her, but she quickly doused it. If Gray wasn't feeling well, he would have said something, right? It could also be a trick of the light. Which, in turn, wasn't much left.

Dismissing the thought of Gray not looking too good, and feeling like she would later regret it, Erza turned her gaze back to the now dark sky. The re-equip mage started to worry that the bandits somehow got word that there was an ambush awaiting them as soon as they arrived. She just hoped that her suspicions weren't correct.

* * *

"That's not true, Happy!" Natsu argued. Happy just shrugged and turned around. The dragonslayer just got more frustrated, and was about to yell at his partner again, when the flash of steel coming from the village caught his attention.

Natsu beamed, knowing who it was, and was happy to finally find his missing teammate. That bastard Gray was up in a tree trying to look cool, and then there was Lucy off to the side of where he was, with Loke there to protect her.

The Fairy Tail mage really worried for her more than anybody else he knew. Maybe with the exception of Wendy, but that was because she was like a little sister to him. And sure he worried a lot for everybody else in the guild, but Lucy was just...special.

She had something that made her more important to him than anybody else. Every time she would smile or laugh, he would get this weird feeling that he didn't understand. Maybe he would ask Lisanna when they got back.

Natsu, though, soon turned serious when he glanced up at the sky and noticed that it was officially nighttime. He frowned and wondered if he was the only one that got a bad feeling about the upcoming battle.

Happy looked up towards his friend and shivered a little when he saw a frightening look on his normally smiling face. Natsu let out a growl when he sniffed the air and smelled an unfamiliar scent coming their way fast.

Finally they could finish this thing!

* * *

Lucy rolled her eyes at the antics of her most powerful spirit. Always claiming his love for her, she had grown used to it and learned to tune it out for the most part. Looking around the village, and then the sky, she unbeknownst shared the thoughts of all her friends.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large amount of dust forming west of her position. Turning to the specified location, she gasped as she noticed that they were coming from the back. _**'That's not a good sign' **_she thought worriedly.

"Loke!" She called over. The spirit turned around and pushed up his glasses before flicking his hair.

"Yes, my lovely Lucy?" Loke responded happily. Though that all changed when he saw his owner take out the whip Virgo had given her. Turning serious, he readied for battle.

As Lucy scanned the village once more, she noticed that Natsu stuck out like a sore thumb. From where he was now, the bandits could easily spot him the instant they came closer. It seemed that he hadn't realized it yet. She sweat-dropped. Sometimes that good nose and hearing were wasted on him.

"Natsu! Move somewhere else! They're coming from the back!" The blonde called in warning to her friend.

Natsu looked up and over when he heard the shout and grinned a rare smile only for her. It was a smile of thanks, and something...more that Lucy couldn't identify. She shrugged it off but couldn't help but notice that heat had risen to settle on her cheeks.

She saw him move behind the actual building, which ensured that the only way for the bandits to see him was if they came from the front. Which, looking to the back, was obviously not the case.

Some distance off from Lucy's position, a scarlet-haired mage was analyzing their enemy. She narrowed her eyes and judged that by the size of the dust cloud, and the sound, that there was approximately 40-50 outlaws. The fact that they had also come from the back of the village concerned her.

Erza started to make a list of suspects that could have told the bandits, and settled on only one person. The mayor. A fierce look overtook her face and she re-equipped into her Black Wing armor. She would deal with the mayor later. Right now they had a battle to fight.

* * *

Gray saw the dust and smirked in anticipation. Finally they were arriving and the request could begin! Deciding that the best course of action would be to get off the branch and regain feeling into his feet and legs, he jumped down.

And immediately regretted it.

As soon as his feet hit the grass beneath him, his vision swam. Everything started to blur and spin erratically. His head pounded like he had a really bad hangover times ten, and he stumbled a little. Tripping over his own feet, he waited for the impact of his head hitting the ground, eyes closing.

But instead of feeling the pain that usually came when hitting something, Gray instead felt the rough texture of bark on his bare arms and hands. After a few seconds, the teen decided that it was safe to open his eyes. Though the fact that it felt incredibly good to have them closed concerned him.

As he breathed in, feeling relieved that the dizziness was over, and the pounding in his head had somewhat died down, his breathing hitched. The mage's eyes widened before closing again, but this time in pain as he was thrown into a coughing fit.

Gray doubled over and felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes as scorching pain went down his throat as each cough became harsher and harsher. The pounding in his head came back at full force, if not harder, and finally after a minute or so, the coughs subsided and he could breathe again.

Leaning heavily on the tree, Gray was left gasping for the breath he had lost. Finally regaining normal breathing, he made sure not to breathe in too deeply, not wanting a repeat of last time. Carefully opening his eyes that had been closed throughout the whole ordeal, he was relieved to see that the world wasn't spinning or blurring anymore.

While leaning there, he unconsciously let loose a little shiver. _**'Damn it! Why the hell am I cold?' **_The ice wizard thought, letting another shiver come to life. Shifting his gaze down to the ground, he felt something wet trail down his face and drop to the grass beneath.

Confused, Gray put a hand to his face and drew it back with sweat. It was trickling from his forehead and traveling down until it reached his chin, where it gathered and lost the battle against gravity. The raven-haired teen groaned, and carefully pushed himself off the tree, not wanting the dizziness to come back.

After a few beats of uncertainty, the ice-make wizard decided it was safe to walk, without having that horrible feeling coming back. Gray still had a pounding in his head, but it had lessened considerably. Bringing his gaze back up from the ground, he found that while he was having his "fit", the bandits had entered the village, and some were dismounting from their horses.

Sighing, he started to make his way closer to the bandits. He just hoped he could make it there and be able to complete the request without having another coughing fit.

* * *

Coming into the village, Borak immediately noticed that everyone in the village had been evacuated. _**'Hm? So they managed to fall right into our trap. That damn Fairy Tail isn't the smartest guild are they?' **_The bandit leader observed. Boy were these fairies going to get a surprise!

Borak held up a hand, signaling that they were to stop. His first man unmounted and came up to him, coming to a stop in front of his leader's horse.

"Looks like everything is going as planned, Borak-sama. Its only a matter of time until before it begins." Parlo reported.

"I can see that idiot!" Borak exclaimed. Parlo muttered a quick "yes sir" before going back to his horse.

"Now come out, you little maggots!"

A roar could be heard as Natsu, fists blazing, jumped out from behind his building,

"I'm right here!" Natsu shouted. He threw a fiery fist in the direction of the men behind the one that insulted him and his friends, knocking most of them off their horses. Scared, the horses ran off and Natsu smirked. This was almost too easy.

Lucy sighed when she saw Natsu blow their cover. This happened every time they tried to accomplish something stealthily. Seeing some bandits start to advance on Natsu she smiled slightly before coming out from her hiding place and took them out with her whip.

Natsu, who was focused on the guy in front of him, didn't even notice the bandits behind him until he heard their screams. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Lucy had covered his blind spots. He turned around and grinned.

"Thanks Luce!"

Lucy just smiled before starting to fight alongside Loke. He saw Erza come in and immediately go for the leader. Gray came out of the tree line surrounding the village and his appearance made Natsu stop for a moment.

The ice-maker looked like he had just seen Master Bob in a speedo. He was sweating a lot and his breathing was ragged. Natsu thought he saw him sway a little but it was probably a trick of the eye. The state of Gray was a little concerning, and Natsu debated a bit before grumbling. As much as he didn't want to, the fire dragonslayer decided to keep an eye on him.

Gray grimaced as he made an ice hammer, and he knew that he wasn't going to last that much longer before he made a mistake. The bandits had turned out to be mages who were skilled in the ways of battle. All in all this was not the easy fight the teen thought it would be.

He saw Erza off to the side, fighting with the leader of them, and smirked. That guy was so dead.

* * *

As Erza slashed a few more outlaws, she came face to face with the leader. She glared at him with a hard expression on her face, but the man just smirked then barked a laugh. Confused but not letting it show, the young woman re-equipped into her Purgatory armor and attacked.

The man just dodged with ease, almost like he was flying. That thought made the warrior stop her attacks and observe him closely. He didn't seem to be using any kind of magic, but these people had surprised them already with being mages so she had to take precautions.

"Who are you?" Erza questioned.

"I'm known by many names but most call me Borak." He replied, stopping to talk. Erza's gaze hardened as she asked her next question.

"Who told you that an ambush would be waiting for you?"

"Ah that would be my dear friend Alster. You better know him as the mayor of the village. But you already figured that part out didn't you, Titania?"

The scarlet let out a growl before moving on to her next question.

"Why did you look so pleased when noticing that the village had been evacuated."

"Hmm, very observant, aren't you?" Borak smirked as he noticed the mage in front of him get angrier by the second.

"Answer!" Erza commanded, and swung her sword so that it was at the man's throat. But yet he didn't move. Not even flinching. He seemed relaxed and his smirk grew larger.

"Why do you think they agreed so eagerly and asked no questions? They probably didn't even take anything with them!" He stated knowingly.

Erza's eye's widened a fraction as she took in what he said. Even though the village had a lot of wizards that could probably take the bandits out if they banded together, they still filed a request. She had also noticed no children in the village, and there were hardly any women, but she didn't question it at the time.

Now she wished she did. She was so stupid to have missed all the little things that could have brought her to this conclusion before.

The villagers were also the bandits.

They had filed in that request solely for the purpose of killing any mages that came to take the request by forming up a simple trap. One group attacks from the back, while the other attacked from the front.

Upon coming to realize just how dangerous this request had become, she yelled out warning to her friends.

"Gray, Natsu, Lucy! It's a trap! There's more co-!"

Was all she could get out before she was roped into fighting again. The leader seemed to have gone for now, and that worried her. Slashing at her opponents, she heard a rumble that was growing louder by the second.

Managing to get a second to breathe, she looked towards the front and dread filled her. These weren't just some bandits. This was a dark guild.

From somewhere above the battle, a voice rang out and the sound of cloth being ripped could be heard.

"Behold! The dark guild Grimmlock!"

Borak was hovering over the battlefield, and on his shoulder was the guild symbol of Grimmlock. It was a crude looking lock with a skeleton key at the bottom. Down where the fairies were fighting, all the others pulled off their cloaks to reveal the same symbol.

Natsu was dodging a thorny vine that popped out of the ground beneath his feet, and was now trying to impale him when he saw the other group ride in. He growled and continued burning anyone that came close enough.

Looking towards Lucy's direction, he saw that she was panting a little bit but looked alright. Loke was still out, but she had also summoned Taurus to help. He was happy to see her fighting with all she had.

Turning his attention to the ice bastard over to his other side, Natsu couldn't help but frown. Gray looked like he was having actual trouble with these guys. Sure they were hard to keep down, but he was panting way too much. His skin was also pale and he was sweating like no tomorrow.

Turning back to his own battle, he couldn't help but feel a bit of concern for his teammate. Sure they bickered constantly, but that was because they were both too headstrong. In truth, Natsu couldn't imagine a Fairy Tail without Gray.

Noticing that a guy was sneaking up in the ice wizard's blind spot while he was fighting a few more, the dragonslayer muttered a bit before deciding to help his friend out. After all, he was like a brother to him.

* * *

Gray panted and felt the sweat pour off of him in droves, but still he kept on fighting. He couldn't manage to get a breather in, especially now that the other group had come in to fight. Blocking another attack, and making a another ice creation, he didn't notice the other guy that he had knocked down before, get back up.

The guy smirked, noticing that the ice mage hadn't seen him. He activated his lightning magic, and was about to use it, when he felt a force slam into his side. Gasping, he was thrown to the side and knocked unconscious upon impact to the ground.

Gray whipped his head around too fast, for the world started to blur and blackness crept at the corners of his eyes. He swayed and started falling to the side. But before he could fall too far, he felt hands grip his upper arms, and pull him back up.

He felt his arm be slung around someone's shoulders and another foreign hand around his waist. But he didn't care about those things. The only thing Gray was focusing on was trying to regain his breath. He was also dimly aware of someone calling his name, but he ignored it.

* * *

Natsu slammed into the guys side, sending him flying. Seeing Gray whip his head around, the fire mage was about to yell at the him when he saw him sway. The comment died on his lips as he saw the other teen pitch to the side.

"Damn it Gray!"

Running over, he quickly grabbed onto the falling mage's upper arms, and slung one arm over his shoulder, so that he was half standing. He could hear the ragged breathing that was way too fast, and Gray's skin was slick with sweat.

Now full on concerned, Natsu attacked all the wizards around him until he managed to clear a space free of dark wizards.

Calling out to his friend, and not getting any response, he started calling out more frantically. Hoping that he wouldn't fall unconscious, he called for Erza.

Looking up from her battle, Erza's eyes widened in horror. Seeing Gray being supported by Natsu, and looking absolutely awful, she momentarily forgot about the battle around her. She immediately assumed the worst, that Gray was heavily wounded, and was dying, but upon not seeing any blood, she dismissed that train of thought quickly.

Noticing that Natsu looked fairly worried, she immediately knew that Gray was in no condition to fight. Thinking back to the battle raging on around them, her and Lucy would be able to finish them off. If they tried hard enough and focused. Nodding to herself, she slashed another wizard, and yelled back to Natsu.

"Natsu, take Gray out of here!"

Momentarily stopping from trying to get a response from his fallen friend, Natsu nodded that he understood. Slinging the ice-maker onto his back, he took off at a run into the forest. Erza watched them go, then turned back to her opponents. Her face darkened and the bandits in front of her flinched, praying for their lives.

Because there was nothing stronger than a fairy worrying for her nakama. But in all her fury, the warrior didn't notice a certain guild master slip off and fly into the forest.

* * *

Running at full speed, Natsu couldn't help but worry over his friend. He could feel the harsh and ragged breathing on his back, and he felt the sweat on Gray's face start to seep into his shirt.

Knowing that running and jostling him so much wasn't helping his condition, he decided to find some sort of shelter. He had considered running back to Magnolia, but it was to far in the state that he was in. The fighting had taken its toll on Natsu, and he felt his energy start to deplete more rapidly.

Looking ahead, he saw a cave off to the side a bit. Almost sighing in relief, he sped onwards towards his destination. Upon reaching it, it was relatively bigger on the inside than he would have thought. Going to the back, he carefully set his overheated friend down on the ground.

The first thing Natsu noticed, was that Gray had finally fell unconscious. Eyes narrowed in worry, he felt his own brow, before feeling the others. Gasping a little when he noticed that the teen had a raging fever, he immediately stripped him of his shirt, trying to cool him down some.

Seeing his breathing slow down a little, the fire dragonslayer calmed down a little and relaxed some. The tension in his shoulders had left, and he let loose a slight grin at what he managed to accomplish. Leaning back on the cave wall, and watching Gray closely, he failed to notice a magic presence getting closer, until it was right outside of the cave.

"Hm? What's this? A fairy seems to have lost it's wings!"

Jumping up, Natsu growled and stood in front of his teammate. Looking around for whoever spoke, he saw that it was the guild master, floating at the entrance of the cave. Igniting his fists, Natsu prepared for battle, but the man just laughed.

"Why would I get my hands dirty, just to beat some maggots? And by the looks of it, one's already beat!" Borak sneered.

"Why you!" Natsu ground out. No one was allowed to insult his family.

"Hmph. I just came here to be the last face you ever saw."

Before Natsu could say something else or move, Borak clicked his fingers, and the ceiling above the dragonslayer collapsed. The last thing that Natsu saw were rocks falling all around him.

And then total darkness.

**A/N: Yeah I know, it really wasn't the best ending, but I really wanted to get this up tonight! :D so I kinda of rushed it -.-' And I'm sorry if there are any misplaced lines. OpenOffice was having a freaking seizure with them and it wouldn't let me undo or erase them -_- But anyway, if you guys would drop a review, I will forever love you~ :3 And I WILL update Guardian Angel soon!**


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